The much loved naturalist and TV presenter Sir David Attenborough is not normally renowned for exaggeration. Yet at last December’s UN Conference in Poland he said “If we don’t take action, the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon.”
Hold on!! The collapse of our civilisations! What on Earth could have made Sir David make such a dire prediction?
Let him answer: “Right now, we are facing a man-made disaster of global scale. Our greatest threat in thousands of years. Climate change.”
Yes Climate Change. Global Warming. Or probably we should call it GLOBAL HEATING. Mounting scientific evidence over recent months indicates that carbon dioxide emissions continue to increase, whilst there is increasing scientific concern that the natural buffers to temperature rise, our oceans, soils and forests, are approaching “full”. A tipping point may not be far away.
Using the term “warming” may sanction a warm glow of contentment with the status quo, whereas “heating” (and a rapid heating at that), should get us hot under the collar and send a message to jolt us out of our complacency.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment published in October 2018 is clear that we have only 12 years left for action if we are to have any chance of keeping the heating down to the 1.5C recommended by the Paris Climate Agreement.
So what steps is our illustrious Government taking to enable us to swiftly transition to the necessary zero-carbon future? A host of backward steps that’s what!! Support for fracking. Removal of support for home solar installations. An end to home insulation grants. Blocking of community wind projects. Continuing to grant fossil fuel subsidies. And more.
Instead of facing up to the existential threat we face, our Government has wasted weeks and weeks of Parliamentary time attempting to deal with Brexit. Yet Brexit will be like a walk in the park compared to coping with Global Heating resulting in global temperatures increasing by 2C and more, a probable scenario which we will achieve within a couple of decades under current policies.
Brexit has had a huge polarising effect upon British society. But now is the time for us to come together. The science is clear and the solutions are known, as they have been since the first IPCC Report in 1990, best part of thirty years ago.
What must happen now, not in 30 or even 12 years time but now, is nothing less than an historic metamorphosis in the way in which we conduct every aspect of our lives. The necessary changes will be far from easy for us as individuals, or for our businesses and institutions. We cannot afford division nor procrastination, time is too short. Hothouse Earth is on our horizon.
Let’s galvanise our actions and come together to fight this common threat of Global Heating. We can and must do this. For more important things unify us than divide us, not least of all the basic human desire to protect and nurture the future for our children and grandchildren.
“If we don’t take action, the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon.” Whether Brexit “Leave-er” or“Remain-er” or “Had Enough of the Whole Damned Thing-er”, lets join together, embrace the difficult path ahead and devote our collective energies to reducing the potential impact of Hothouse Earth. To do otherwise would be an abrogation of our responsibility to our children and their children’s children’s children.
Dr Graham Lambert
